[His palm tingles as she releases it and he subtly rubs both of them together in front of him as they move. Talking about his father... what he did, what she did... it's always been difficult. It's no less difficult now, but there's an urgency behind the words, like they're something that needs to be said.]

And where would I be, if it had? [Nathaniel wonders aloud. He has considered this many times over the years.] My father favoured my brother. I don't believe I would have ever been given the arling. [He lets out a soft, short chuckle.]

I could have spent years more in the Free Marches, wishing that I was somewhere else.

[It hadn't been terrible, but he had never really wanted to be there.]

The Wardens would never have been my first choice, but they were my choice... one that wasn't dictated by my father or my so called noble blood.